Our Company & Heritage

Our Breweries

Our breweries are our life blood - brewing great beer and employing hundreds of passionate Kiwis across the country from Waitemata Brewery in Otahuhu and the iconic Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka to the Monteith's Brewery in Greymouth and DB Draught Brewery in Timaru.

Our combined brewing heritage and credentials are substantial and we’re proud to be able to grow alongside the communities we operate in.

Our Timaru brewery is the home of our iconic beer brand, DB Draught, hence it’s name. It was changed from Mainland Brewery to DB Draught Brewery in 2012 in honour of the brand’s significance in the South Island.
DB Draught Brewery features state-of-the art technology and has set numerous records for production efficiency and quality standards. Beer made in Timaru is distributed mainly throughout the South Island from Nelson to Bluff and increasingly to Australia.
DB Draught Brewery is one of the largest employers in the Timaru District contributing significantly to the local economy.

Our first brewery opened in 1929 during a time of international recession and stiff competition. Despite this, the company thrived thanks largely to the successful pairing of our original brewery owner William Coutts and liquor merchant and distributor Henry (later Sir Henry) Kelliher.

In 1950 William Coutts' son, Morton Coutts, developed the continuous fermentation (CF) method of brewing. His refined method eventually replaced the batch brewing system, allowing a continuous flow of ingredients and eliminating all variables to produce the perfect beer. This world-first confirmed DB Breweries as a leader and put New Zealand’s brewing industry on the map.
Today Waitemata Brewery produces a combination of both batch and CF products from its original Otahuhu site. Our brewers and engineers continue to push the boundaries of efficiency and innovation to meet growing consumer demand both in New Zealand and overseas.

Greymouth has been the home of Monteith’s Brewing Co. since 1868. In 2012 DB invested significantly in the brewery to ensure Monteith’s foundations remain strong for many years to come. Our new-look brewery befits its long-standing reputation for producing award-winning beer and cider and firmly stamps Greymouth on the tourism maps.

Monteith’s Brewery offers a visitor experience that fully reflects the heritage and personality that is unique to the West Coast and Monteith’s, including great Kiwi kai (food), brewery tours, a merchandise shop and of course, great beer.

English entrepreneur Henry Wagstaff established the Tui Brewery at Mangatainoka in 1889 with the dream of supplying "export quality brews to beer drinkers around the colony".

In 1904, with new owner Henry Cowan at the helm since 1903, the brewery won its first award for Tui East India Pale Ale at the Palmerston North A&P Show. This established Tui as a beer of choice and sales grew steadily for the next decade, leading to the final name change to the Tui Brewery in 1923.

Tui came into the DB Breweries family in 1969. Since then the brewery has undergone a large-scale modernisation and become a major employer and tourism contributor for the local community. The iconic Tui Tower can be seen for miles around Mangatainoka and the ‘Tuiwood’ sign which looks down over its domain. The Tui HQ cafe provides locally-inspired food and is the perfect spot to relax after a brewery tour or shopping at the Tui shop.

One of New Zealand’s largest craft breweries, Tuatara Brewery is based in Paraparaumu and has been operating since 2000. The team brew authentically crafted beer that has a Kiwi take on traditional and new age styles. Tuatara won the supreme award at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand 2016 Beer Awards as well as collecting three of 14 category trophies (for Tuatara Mot Eureka Pilsner, Tuatara Sauvinova Pale Ale and Tuatara Weiz Guy Hefeweizen). It’s the only brewery to have won the supreme award twice, having won previously in 2008.

Black Dog Brew Co. was created in 2012 in the heart of Wellington, the craft beer capital of New Zealand. The team at Black Dog create interesting ‘alternatives’ to the range of beers already available. Their mission is to always be interesting and intrepid, always act independent and stay in tune with what consumers want.